Larry W.

I had a Vespa and it is a great little wind-in-the-face machine for around town. But I'd have to give it a thought or two about using it on a 600 mile, three day weekend getaway. The Miata I have now is just about a bare bones experiences as it is. Still, if it works for you, ride on guy! Larry

BTW, Dave- I enjoyed your discussion on the Camp Blanding museum down my way. I'm ashamed to say I've never visited it. Road trip!

I've never grinned quite so hard while driving as in the Miata. It's a marvelously well-balanced little machine. The speakers are no longer in the headrests, but instead are in the door panels and between the seats, near the headrests. Since both rear speakers are on one side of my head, they do nothing for stereo sound, so I have them turned off. That's OK. The door speakers do fine, and how sophisticated a sound system do you need with 60+ dB wind noise doing the accompaniment? Larry

I couldn't get the article to pull up, but the best vehicle would depend on your needs. I'm tickled with my Miata, but only when I'm going solo. That micro trunk is barely enough for my stuff. I'm going to bring a friend with me on a week long trip in May, but will be adding a temporary luggage rack to do so, and we will still have to keep our packing list on the sparse side.

My city has a pretty decent recycling program, but most do not. My empty soda cans and bottles accumulate in my trunk until I get home to throw them into the ol' blue bin. I don't get radical about it, but practicing a few hyper-mileage driving techniques enable me to gain 5+ mpg over the EPA estimates on my road trips. As long as there is no traffic behind me, I've gotten pretty good at popping into neutral and coasting to that red light way up ahead. About a third the time, the light will change to green before I have to apply the brakes.

I envision meeting any of the past presidents (the most recent will do) in a nondescript diner along my travels. It would be in a location neither of us were likely to visit again. As we shared a countertop, we would share our journeys and our dreams, but I would bring up nothing political. In that way, I would give him the gift of being just one of us again. That is a gift that any one of them, having served in the cauldron called Washington, would greatly cherish. Larry W.

I'd echo the Blue Ridge Parkway, but I enjoy it even better in the Spring when the rhododendrons are in bloom. For autumn foliage, instead of the ridgelines, I prefer the foothills drives where the colors are more consistent (if you time it right). I can't pick a favorite, because there are so many more to discover. If the weather is fair, there's no such thing as a bad one, is there?

I don't have a favorite, but I do remember my earliest- John Wayne in the Sons of Katie Elder. The last one I saw was the original Vanishing Point.